Who Would Have Thought

It's been awhile since my last post, now that should sound familiar to those who go to confession, if you change the last word to confession. Let me see, what have I been up to since my last visit. Oh, uhm, I have finally discovered the source of the odor. Rigged a funnel and drain over a pipe and voila, liquid and gas be gone. Must love those exhaust pipes that let out air, except if it's a long closed one that finally has broken it's seal. The odor has vanished, plus I have taken and cleaned an unused air purifier that helps in the process.

That leads me to another sort of cleaning, one of removing items that are not used, that would benefit someone who needs it more than I do. Cleaning out house as much as cleaning out my soul does extreme wonders, it should be done on a regular basis. Did I forget anything, oh yes, I also came down with a cold and is recovering from it. Received news about my tests that requires more changes in my diet and hopefully more weight loss. All in all this has been a good visit, on the blog that is. But if this were confession, then it's safe to say it was a painless visit and now one can go off to the next place and smile. Confession is great for the soul, it's awesome to leave the confessional smiling, knowing that we've done well by going in the first place. Now when receiving the Eucharist, the very body of our Lord it will be done in purity and love.

Cleaning

There is one thing about cleaning out the clutter in the living areas of our lives that frees up space as well as simplifying. I began to take stock of what it is that is truly needed and what isn't. I began to see what I was holding onto that needed chucking. In that same sense I also began to look deep into my heart to see what clutter that may be present there as well.

It's not so hard to understand how easily we wound the very heart of Jesus. When we take stock of how our own heart deliberately wounds the very heart of God with our own sins. Many times we refuse to see how we truly are, an imperfect people. Those cleaning out days help me take stock of how it's very important to also keep our hearts clear of clutter. Living without clutter in our hearts opens it up to God's love. How can our hearts open up to Jesus when we keep placing more stuff in his way of freeing us from sin.

When I had a nice menopausal pimple make itself present, I learned more about vanity than I cared to admit. Since it's appearance it taught me not to place importance on looks nor for that matter what others may think. Since most of the time we judge by looks rather than what is in the heart of another. Sometimes things have a way of happening that bring us out of ourselves and corrects our way of thinking. I didn't think I placed that much importance on my looks, I don't wear make-up, but a blemish, now that had me bugged. So I began the process of taking more stock of my interior heart and looked more at the Sacred Heart of Jesus and not on myself. A thorough cleansing was needed. Because it's Jesus that matters to me most of all, not what others think.

Reorganizing

There is something to be said about ripping things apart. It's having to put it back together again. Yesterday I did a major upheaval in search of an item that was in a drawer. But the best part was redoing a few things and placing them in a totally new spot, which freed up some cabinet space that I was using of my parent's. How is it that we accumulate so much stuff and find that we either use it once or twice and then put it aside. Or get it and forget about it. Most often this is called out of sight out of mind. The same can be said of storage places, if we store it in one of them then we don't really need it. I don't have that problem, I had gotten rid of much of what I had a few years ago. I don't have a bed anymore either. The mattress was so old and shot that it was causing body aches. So it was replaced with an air mattress. Economical and cleaner, just don't stick it with a pin. I used to do that when I was sewing near the bed.

Lately my sister has been giving me her clothes that no longer fit her, she lost a lot of weight. Only problem with that, they didn't fit me either, they were too big. It was a good effort on her part, so I gave them back to be passed on to someone who may need them. I did the same thing when I lost weight, I gave them to the Salvation Army or the other place. Many of the dishes and other stuff I had went in that direction also. Well anyway, back to the cleaning and reorganizing, long time ago I used to keep letters, and many odds and ends. But with time I had found that I would question, why am I keeping this for. So each time I would end up throwing it away. But out of that I ended up keeping weird things, broken pieces that never did get put back together, lost items that never got paired up,missing screws and-so-forth. And not to mention the oddest of paperwork. Why did I keep that article or that magazine, that particular piece of paper, with a number but no name. What on earth was it all about and why did I keep those things? I would think along the line that somewhere it may be needed for something. Such is the mentality of keeping junk of the moment. I even began to keep things that I came across about Jesus and God. Little mementos of sayings or articles that at the time held so much meaning, but when reread I wondered what was the message.

What's the point in it all? Not a thing. The aspect of our lives is to keep so much and forget what we are really here for. I had so many romance books that I bought when I was married that I gave them away twice over. I look back now and realized those books were an escape. But even then God was there and ever present in my heart. I would also read some material on healing and some other stuff, because I was always drawn to the spiritual life. You could say that there are many times when I went through what I had and gave to the poor because it was meant to go to them. I would get rid of what is not needed. What purpose does it serve me, other than sentiment. When I see things begin to clutter then I too have to realize that if my worldly goods clutter how then am I taking care of my spiritual clutter. Am I cleaning out any excess that does not belong to God from my inner room as I clean out and organize my outer room. As I go about this, I too take stock of what is inside and give back to God what belongs to him. Sometimes it's easy to forget how much God is present in our lives when we let so much else in.

I forgot that when I was at Chapel yesterday, a lady came in with a very young child. It made my day to see one so young brought to visit. What ended up happening was quite amazing, I gave a prayer card of St Raphael to the little girl. All I knew was to give it, I didn't know to whom. The lady said how strange since St. Raphael was on her mind. So I told her it was for her as well. I didn't get to have much time with her since I also had to leave to go to Mass. I ended up going in the afternoon instead of the morning Mass. That too was awesome, and I did look up at the ceiling again, and finally came to the realization that I was given a glimpse of heaven. Just like at Christ the King Church where I also had seen a glimpse of gold and also an angel stepping out from behind a statue. There has been a lot that has been given and I treasure it all. Because God is good.